The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4

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When they heard these words Ja'afar swore to him an ambiguous
oath that they were not those he named, whereupon he laughed and
said: "Know, O my lords, that I am not the Commander of the
Faithful and that I do but style myself thus, to win my will of
the sons of the city. My true name is Mohammed Ali, son of Ali
the Jeweller, and my father was one of the notables of Baghdad,
who left me great store of gold and silver and pearls and coral
and rubies and chrysolites and other jewels, besides messuages
and lands, Hammam-baths and brickeries, orchards and flower-
gardens. Now as I sat in my shop one day surrounded by my eunuchs
and dependents, behold, there came up a young lady, mounted on a
she-mule and attended by three damsels like moons. Riding up to
my shop she alighted and seated herself by my side and said 'Art
thou Mohammed the Jeweller?' Replied I, 'Even so! I am he, thy
Mameluke, thy chattel.' She asked, 'Hast thou a necklace of
jewels fit for me?' and I answered, 'O my lady, I will show thee
what I have; and lay all before thee and, if any please thee, it
will be of thy slave's good luck; if they please thee not, of his
ill fortune.' Now I had by me an hundred necklaces and showed
them all to her; but none of them pleased her and she said, 'I
want a better than those I have seen.' I had a small necklace
which my father had bought at an hundred thousand dinars and
whose like was not to be found with any of the great kings; so I
said to her, 'O my lady, I have yet one necklace of fine stones
fit for bezels, the like of which none possesseth, great or
small. Said she, Show it to me,' so I showed it to her, and she
said, 'This is what I wanted and what I have wished for all my
life;' adding, 'What is its price?' Quoth I, 'It cost my father
an hundred thousand dinars;' and she said, 'I will give thee five
thousand dinars to thy profit.' I answered, 'O my lady, the
necklace and its owner are at thy service and I cannot gainsay
thee.' But she rejoined, 'Needs must thou have the profit, and I
am still most grateful to thee.' Then she rose without stay or
delay; and, mounting the mule in haste, said to me, 'O my lord,
in Allah's name, favour us with thy company to receive the money;
for this thy day with us is white as milk.'[FN#198] So I shut the
shop and accompanied her, in all security, till we came to a
house, on which were manifest the signs of wealth and rank; for
its door was wrought with gold and silver and ultramarine, and
thereon were written these two couplets,

'Hole, thou mansion! woe ne'er enter thee; * Nor be thine owner
e'er misused of Fate
Excellent mansion to all guests art thou, * When other mansions
to the guest are strait.'

The young lady dismounted and entered the house, bidding me sit
down on the bench at the gate, till the money-changer should
arrive. So I sat awhile, when behold, a damsel came out to me and
said, 'O my lord, enter the vestibule; for it is a dishonour that
thou shouldst sit at the gate.' Thereupon I arose and entered the
vestibule and sat down on the settle there, and, as I sat, lo!
another damsel came out and said to me, 'O my lord my mistress
biddeth thee enter and sit down at the door of the saloon, to
receive thy money.' I entered and sat down, nor had I sat a
moment when behold, a curtain of silk which concealed a throne of
gold was drawn aside, and I saw seated thereon the lady who had
made the purchase, and round her neck she wore the necklace which
looked pale and wan by the side of a face as it were the rounded
moon; At her sight, my wit was troubled and my mind confounded,
by reason of her exceeding beauty and loveliness, but when she
saw me she rose from her throne and coming close up to me, said,
'O light of mine eyes, is every handsome one like thee pitiless
to his mistress?' I answered, 'O my lady, beauty, all of it, is
in thee and is but one of thy hidden charms.' And she rejoined,
'O Jeweller, know that I love thee and can hardly credit that I
have brought thee hither.' Then she bent towards me and I kissed
her and she kissed me and, as she caressed me, drew me towards
her and to her breast she pressed me."--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Ninety-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Jeweller continued: "Then she bent towards me and kissed and
caressed me; and, as she caressed me, drew me towards her and to
her breast she pressed me. Now she knew by my condition that I
had a mind to enjoy her; so she said to me, 'O my lord, wouldst
thou foregather with me unlawfully? By Allah, may he not live who
would do the like of this sin and who takes pleasure in talk
unclean! I am a maid, a virgin whom no man hath approached, nor
am I unknown in the city. Knowest thou who I am?' Quoth I, 'No,
by Allah, O my lady!'; and quoth she, 'I am the Lady Dunya,
daughter of Yahya bin Khalid the Barmecide and sister of Ja'afar,
Wazir to the Caliph.' Now as I heard this, I drew back from her,
saying, 'O my lady, it is no fault of mine if I have been over-
bold with thee; it was thou didst encourage me to aspire to thy
love, by giving me access to thee.' She answered, 'No harm shall
befal-thee, and needs must thou attain thy desire in the only way
pleasing to Allah. I am my own mistress and the Kazi shall act as
my guardian in consenting to the marriage contract; for it is my
will that I be to thee wife and thou be to me man.' Then she sent
for the Kazi and the witnesses and busied herself with making
ready; and, when they came, she said to them, 'Mohammed Ali, bin
Ali the Jeweller, seeketh me in wedlock and hath given me the
necklace to my marriage-settlement; and I accept and consent.' So
they wrote out the contract of marriage between us; and ere I
went in to her the servants brought the wine-furniture and the
cups passed round after the fairest fashion and the goodliest
ordering; and, when the wine mounted to our heads, she ordered a
damsel, a lute-player,[FN#199] to sing. So she took the lute and
sang to a pleasing and stirring motive these couplets,

'He comes; and fawn and branch and moon delight these eyne *
Fie[FN#200] on his heart who sleeps o' nights without repine
Pair youth, for whom Heaven willed to quench in cheek one light,
* And left another light on other cheek bright li'en:
I fain finesse my chiders when they mention him, * As though the
hearing of his name I would decline;
And willing ear I lend when they of other speak; * Yet would my
soul within outflow in foods of brine:
Beauty's own prophet, he is all a miracle * Of heavenly grace,
and greatest shows his face for sign.[FN#201]
To prayer Bilal-like cries that Mole upon his cheek * To ward
from pearly brow all eyes of ill design:[FN#202]
The censors of their ignorance would my love dispel * But after
Faith I can't at once turn Infidel.'

We were ravished by the sweet music she made striking the
strings, and the beauty of the verses she sang; and the other
damsels went on to sing and to recite one after another, till ten
had so done; when the Lady Dunya took the lute and playing a
lively measure, chanted these couplets,

'I swear by swayings of that form so fair, * Aye from thy parting
fiery
Pity a heart which burneth in thy love, * O bright as fullest
moon in blackest air!
Vouchsafe thy boons to him who ne'er will cease * In light of
wine-cup all thy charms declare,
Amid the roses which with varied hues * Are to the myrtle-
bush[FN#203] a mere despair.'

When she had finished her verse I took the lute from her hands
and, playing a quaint and not vulgar prelude sang the following
verses,

'Laud to my Lord who gave thee all of loveliness; * Myself amid
thy thralls I willingly confess:
O thou, whose eyes and glances captivate mankind, * Pray that I
'scape those arrows shot with all thy stress!
Two hostile rivals water and enflaming fire * Thy cheek hath
married, which for marvel I profess:
Thou art Sa'ir in heart of me and eke Na'im;[FN#204] * Thou agro-
dolce, eke heart's sweetest bitterness.'

When she heard this my song she rejoiced with exceeding joy;
then, dismissing her slave women, she brought me to a most goodly
place, where they had spread us a bed of various colours. She did
off her clothes and I had a lover's privacy of her and found her
a pearl unpierced and a filly unridden. So I rejoiced in her and
never in my born days spent I a more delicious night."--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Ninety-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Mohammed
bin Ali the Jeweller continued: "So I went in unto the Lady
Dunya, daughter of Yahya bin Khalid the Barmecide, and I found
her a pearl unthridden and a filly unridden. So I rejoiced in her
and repeated these couplets,

'O Night here stay! I want no morning light; * My lover's face to
me is lamp and light:[FN#205]
As ring of ring-dove round his necks my arm; * And made my palm
his mouth-veil, and, twas right.
This be the crown of bliss, and ne'er we'll cease * To clip, nor
care to be in other plight.'

And I abode with her a whole month, forsaking shop and family and
home, till one day she said to me, 'O light of my eyes, O my lord
Mohammed, I have determined to go to the Hammam to day; so sit
thou on this couch and rise not from thy place, till I return to
thee.' 'I hear and I obey,' answered I, and she made me swear to
this; after which she took her women and went off to the bath.
But by Allah, O my brothers, she had not reached the head of the
street ere the door opened and in came an old woman, who said to
me, 'O my lord Mohammed, the Lady Zubaydah biddeth thee to her,
for she hath heard of thy fine manners and accomplishments and
skill in singing.' I answered, 'By Allah, I will not rise from my
place till the Lady Dunya come back.' Rejoined the old woman, 'O
my lord, do not anger the Lady Zubaydah with thee and vex her so
as to make her thy foe: nay, rise up and speak with her and
return to thy place.' So I rose at once and followed her into the
presence of the Lady Zubaydah and, when I entered her presence
she said to me, 'O light of the eye, art thou the Lady Dunya's
beloved?' 'I am thy Mameluke, thy chattel,' replied I. Quoth she,
'Sooth spake he who reported thee possessed of beauty and grace
and good breeding and every fine quality; indeed, thou surpassest
all praise and all report. But now sing to me, that I may hear
thee.' Quoth I, 'Hearkening and obedience;' so she brought me a
lute, and I sang to it these couplets,

'The hapless lover's heart is of his wooing weary grown, * And
hand of sickness wasted him till naught but skin and bone
Who should be amid the riders which the haltered camels urge, *
But that same lover whose beloved cloth in the litters wone:
To Allah's charge I leave that moon-like Beauty in your tents *
Whom my heart loves, albe my glance on her may ne'er be
thrown.
Now she is fain; then she is fierce: how sweet her coyness shows;
* Yea sweet whatever cloth or saith to lover loved one!'

When I had finished my song she said to me, 'Allah assain thy
body and thy voice! Verily, thou art perfect in beauty and good
breeding and singing. But now rise and return to thy place, ere
the Lady Dunya come back, lest she find thee not and be wroth
with thee.' Then I kissed the ground before her and the old woman
forewent me till I reached the door whence I came. So I entered
and, going up to the couch, found that my wife had come back from
the bath and was lying asleep there. Seeing this I sat down at
her feet and rubbed them; whereupon she opened her eyes and
seeing me, drew up both her feet and gave me a kick that threw me
off the couch,[FN#206] saying, 'O traitor, thou hast been false
to thine oath and hast perjured thyself. Thou swarest to me that
thou wouldst not rise from thy place; yet didst thou break thy
promise and go to the Lady Zubaydah. By Allah, but that I fear
public scandal, I would pull down her palace over her head!' Then
said she to her black slave, 'O Sawab, arise and strike off this
lying traitor's head, for we have no further need of him.' So the
slave came up to me and, tearing a strip from his skirt, bandaged
with it my eyes[FN#207] and would have struck off my head;"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Ninety-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Mohammed
the Jeweller continued: "So the slave came up to me and, tearing
a strip from his skirt, bandaged with it my eyes and would have
struck off my head, but all her women, great and small, rose and
came up to her and said to her, 'O our lady, this is not the
first who hath erred: indeed, he knew not thy humour and hath
done thee no offence deserving death.' Replied she, 'By Allah, I
must needs set my mark on him.' And she bade them bash me; so
they beat me on my ribs and the marks ye saw are the scars of
that fustigation. Then she ordered them to cast me out, and they
carried me to a distance from the house and threw me down like a
log. After a time I rose and dragged myself little by little to
my own place, where I sent for a surgeon and showed him my hurts;
and he comforted me and did his best to cure me. As soon as I was
recovered I went to the Hammam and, as my pains and sickness had
left me, I repaired to my shop and took and sold all that was
therein. With the proceeds, I bought me four hundred white
slaves, such as no King ever got together, and caused two hundred
of them to ride out with me every day. Then I made me yonder
barge whereon I spent five thousand gold pieces; and styled
myself Caliph and appointed each of my servants to the charge of
some one of the Caliph's officers and clad him in official habit.
Moreover, I made proclamation, 'Whoso goeth a-pleasuring on the
Tigris by night, I will strike off his head, without ruth or
delay;' and on such wise have I done this whole year past, during
which time I have heard no news of the lady neither happened upon
any trace of her." Then wept he copiously and repeated these
couplets,

"By Allah! while the days endure ne'er shall forget her I, * Nor
draw to any nigh save those who draw her to me nigh
Like to the fullest moon her form and favour show to me, * Laud
to her All-creating Lord, laud to the Lord on high,
She left me full of mourning, sleepless, sick with pine and pain
* And ceaseth not my heart to yearn her mystery[FN#208] to
espy."

Now when Harun al-Rashid heard the young man's story and knew the
passion and transport and love lowe that afflicted him, he was
moved to compassion and wonder and said, "Glory be to Allah, who
hath appointed to every effect a cause!" Then they craved the
young man's permission to depart; which being granted, they took
leave of him, the Caliph purposing to do him justice meet, and
him with the utmost munificence entreat; and they returned to the
palace of the Caliphate, where they changed clothes for others
befitting their state and sat down, whilst Masrur the Sworder of
High Justice stood before them. After awhile, quoth the Caliph to
Ja'afar, "O Wazir, bring me the young man'--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Two hundred and Ninety-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the
Caliph to his Minister, "Bring me the young man with whom we were
last night." "I hear and obey," answered Ja'afar and, going to
the youth, saluted him, saying, "Obey the summons of the
Commander of the Faithful, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid." So he
returned with him to the palace, in great anxiety by reason of
the summons; and, going in to the King, kissed ground before him;
and offered up a prayer for the endurance of his glory and
prosperity, for the accomplishment of his desires, for the
continuance of his beneficence and for the cessation of evil and
punishment; ordering his speech as best he might and ending by
saying, "Peace be on thee, O Prince of True Believers and
Protector of the folk of the Faith!" Then he repeated these two
couplets,

"Kiss thou his fingers which no fingers are; * Keys of our daily
bread those fingers ken:
And praise his actions which no actions are, * But precious
necklaces round necks of men."

So the Caliph smiled in his face and returned his salute, looking
on him with the eye of favour; then he bade him draw near and sit
down before him and said to him, "O Mohammed Ali, I wish thee to
tell me what befel thee last night, for it was strange and
passing strange." Quoth the youth, "Pardon, O Commander of the
Faithful, give me the kerchief of immunity, that my dread may be
appeased and my heart eased." Replied the Caliph, "I promise thee
safety from fear and woes." So the young man told him his story
from first to last, whereby the Caliph knew him to be a lover and
severed from his beloved and said to him, "Desirest thou that I
restore her to thee?" "This were of the bounty of the Commander
of the Faithful," answered the youth and repeated these two
couplets.

"Ne'er cease thy gate be Ka'abah to mankind; * Long may its
threshold dust man's brow beseem!
That o'er all countries it may be proclaimed, * This is the Place
and thou art Ibrahim."[FN#209]

Thereupon the Caliph turned to his Minister and said to him, "O
Ja'afar, bring me thy sister, the Lady Dunya, daughter of the
Wazir Yahya bin Khalid!" "I hear and I obey," answered he and
fetched her without let or delay. Now when she stood before the
Caliph he said to her, "Doss thou know who this is?"; and she
replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, how should women have
knowledge of men?"[FN#210] So the Caliph smiled and said, "O
Dunya this is thy beloved, Mohammed bin Ali the Jeweller. We are
acquainted with his case, for we have heard the whole story from
beginning to end, and have apprehended its inward and its
outward; and it is no more hidden from me, for all it was kept in
secrecy." Replied she, "O Commander of the Faithful, this was
written in the Book of Destiny; I crave the forgiveness of
Almighty Allah for the wrong I have wrought, and pray thee to
pardon me of thy favour." At this the Caliph laughed and,
summoning the Kazi and witnesses, renewed the marriage-contract
between the Lady Dunya and her husband, Mohammed Ali son of the
Jeweller, whereby there betided them, both her and him the utmost
felicity, and to their enviers mortification and misery.
Moreover, he made Mohammed Ali one of his boon-companions, and
they abode in joy and cheer and gladness, till there came to them
the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of societies. And men
also relate the pleasant tale of

ALI THE PERSIAN.

It is said that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, being restless one
night, sent for his Wazir and said to him, "O Ja'afar, I am sore
wakeful and heavy-hearted this night, and I desire of thee what
may solace my spirit and cause my breast to broaden with amuse
meet." Quoth Ja'afar, "O Commander of the Faithful, I have a
friend, by name Ali the Persian, who hath store of tales and plea
sent stories, such as lighten the heart and make care depart."
Quoth the Caliph, "Fetch him to me," and quoth Ja'afar,
"Hearkening and obedience;" and, going out from before him, sent
to seek Ali the Persian and when he came said to him, "Answer the
summons of the Commander of the Faithful." "To hear is to obey,"
answered Ali;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Ninety-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Persian
replied, "To hear is to obey;" and at once followed the Wazir
into the presence of the Caliph who bade him be seated and said
to him, "O Ali, my heart is heavy within me this night and it
hath come to my ear that thou hast great store of tales and
anecdotes; so I desire of thee that thou let me hear what will
relieve my despondency and brighten my melancholy." Said he, "O
Commander of the Faithful, shall I tell thee what I have seen
with my eyes or what I have heard with my ears?" He replied, "An
thou have seen aught worth the telling, let me hear that."
Replied Ali: "Hearkening and obedience. Know thou, O Commander of
the Faithful, that some years ago I left this my native city of
Baghdad on a journey, having with me a lad who carried a light
leathern bag. Presently we came to a certain city, where, as I
was buying and selling, behold, a rascally Kurd fell on me and
seized my wallet perforce, saying, 'This is my bag, and all which
is in it is my property.' Thereupon, I cried aloud 'Ho
Moslems,[FN#211] one and all, deliver me from the hand of the
vilest of oppressors!' But the folk said, 'Come, both of you, to
the Kazi and abide ye by his judgment with joint consent.' So I
agreed to submit myself to such decision and we both presented
ourselves before the Kazi, who said, 'What bringeth you hither
and what is your case and your quarrel?' Quoth I, 'We are men at
difference, who appeal to thee and make complaint and submit
ourselves to thy judgment.' Asked the Kazi, 'Which of you is the
complainant?'; so the Kurd came forward[FN#212] and said, 'Allah
preserve our lord the Kazi! Verily, this bag is my bag and all
that is in it is my swag. It was lost from me and I found it with
this man mine enemy.' The Kazi asked, 'When didst thou lose it?';
and the Kurd answered, 'But yesterday, and I passed a sleepless
night by reason of its loss.' 'An it be thy bag,' quoth the Kazi,
'tell me what is in it.' Quoth the Kurd, 'There were in my bag
two silver styles for eye-powder and antimony for the eyes and a
kerchief for the hands, wherein I had laid two gilt cups and two
candlesticks. Moreover it contained two tents and two platters
and two spoons and a cushion and two leather rugs and two ewers
and a brass tray and two basins and a cooking-pot and two water-
jars and a ladle and a sacking-needle and a she-cat and two
bitches and a wooden trencher and two sacks and two saddles and a
gown and two fur pelisses and a cow and two calves and a she-goat
and two sheep and an ewe and two lambs and two green pavilions
and a camel and two she-camels and a lioness and two lions and a
she-bear and two jackals and a mattress and two sofas and an
upper chamber and two saloons and a portico and two sitting-rooms
and a kitchen with two doors and a company of Kurds who will bear
witness that the bag is my bag.' Then said the Kazi to me, 'And
thou, sirrah, what sayest thou?' So I came forward, O Commander
of the Faithful (and indeed the Kurd's speech had bewildered me)
and said, 'Allah advance our lord the Kazi! Verily, there was
naught in this my wallet, save a little ruined tenement and
another without a door and a dog house and a boys' school and
youths playing dice and tents and tent-ropes and the cities of
Bassorah and Baghdad and the palace of Shaddad bin Ad and an
ironsmith's forge and a fishing-net and cudgels and pickets and
girls and boys and a thousand pimps who will testify that the bag
is my bag.' Now when the Kurd heard my words, he wept and wailed
and said, 'O my lord the Kazi, this my bag is known and what is
in it is a matter of renown; for in this bag there be castles and
citadels and cranes and beasts of prey and men playing chess and
draughts. Furthermore, in this my bag is a brood-mare and two
colts and a stallion and two blood-steeds and two long lances;
and it containeth eke a lion and two hares and a city and two
villages and a whore and two sharking panders and an
hermaphrodite and two gallows birds and a blind man and two
wights with good sight and a limping cripple and two lameters and
a Christian ecclesiastic and two deacons and a patriarch and two
monks and a Kazi and two assessors, who will be evidence that the
bag is my bag.' Quoth the Kazi to me, 'And what sayst thou, O
Ali?' So, O Commander of the Faithful, being filled with rage, I
came forward and said, 'Allah keep our lord the Kazi!'"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Ninety-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Persian
continued: "So being filled with rage, O Commander of the
Faithful, I came forward and said, 'Allah keep our lord the Kazi
I had in this my wallet a coat of mail and a broadsword and
armouries and a thousand fighting rams and a sheep-fold with its
pasturage and a thousand barking dogs and gardens and vines and
flowers and sweet smelling herbs and figs and apples and statues
and pictures and flagons and goblets and fair-faced slave-girls
and singing-women and marriage-feasts and tumult and clamour and
great tracts of land and brothers of success, which were robbers,
and a company of daybreak-raiders with swords and spears and bows
and arrows and true friends and dear ones and Intimates and
comrades and men imprisoned for punishment and cup-companions and
a drum and flutes and flags and banners and boys and girls and
brides (in all their wedding bravery), and singing-girls and five
Abyssinian women and three Hindi maidens and four damsels of
Al-Medinah and a score of Greek girls and eighty Kurdish dames
and seventy Georgian ladies and Tigris and Euphrates and a
fowling net and a flint and steel and Many-columned Iram and a
thousand rogues and pimps and horse-courses and stables and
mosques and baths and a builder and a carpenter and a plank and a
nail and a black slave with his flageolet and a captain and a
caravan leader and towns and cities and an hundred thousand
dinars and Cufa and Anbar[FN#213] and twenty chests full of
stuffs and twenty storehouses for victuals and Gaza and Askalon
and from Damietta to Al-Sawan[FN#214]; and the palace of Kisra
Anushirwan and the kingdom of Solomon and from Wadi Nu'uman to
the land of Khorasan and Balkh and Ispahan and from India to the
Sudan. Therein also (may Allah prolong the life of our lord the
Kazi!) are doublets and cloths and a thousand sharp razors to
shave off the Kazi's beard, except he fear my resentment and
adjudge the bag to be my bag.' Now when the Kazi heard what I and
the Kurd avouched, he was confounded and said, 'I see ye twain be
none other than two pestilent fellows, atheistical-villains who
make sport of Kazis and magistrates and stand not in fear of
reproach. Never did tongue tell nor ear hear aught more
extraordinary than that which ye pretend. By Allah, from China to
Shajarat Umm Ghaylan, nor from Fars to Sudan nor from Wadi
Nu'uman to Khorasan, was ever heard the like of what ye avouch or
credited the like of what ye affirm. Say, fellows, be this bag a
bottomless sea or the Day of Resurrection that shall gather
together the just and unjust?' Then the Kazi bade them open the
bag; so I opened it and behold, there was in it bread and a lemon
and cheese and olives. So I threw the bag down before the Kurd
and ganged my gait." Now when the Caliph heard this tale from Ali
the Persian, he laughed till he fell on his back and made him a
handsome present.[FN#215] And men also relate a

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