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 it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ala
al-Din looked at the King's daughter, he saw with her a young
lady to whom he heard her say, "Thy company hath cheered me, O
Zubaydah." So he looked straitly at the damsel and found her to
be none other than his dead wife, Zubaydah the Lutist. Then the
Princess said to Zubaydah, "Come, play us an air on the lute."
But she answered, "I will make no music for thee, till thou grant
my wish and keep thy word to me." Asked the Princess, "And what
did I promise thee?"; and Zubaydah answered, "That thou wouldst
reunite me with my husband Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat, the Trusty,
the Faithful." Rejoined the Princess, "O Zubaydah, be of good
cheer and keep thine eyes cool and clear; play us a piece as a
thank-offering and an ear-feast for reunion with thy husband Ala
al-Din." "Where is he?" asked Zubaydah, and Maryam answered, "He
is in yonder closet listening to our words." So Zubaydah played
on the lute a melody which had made a rock dance for glee; and
when Ala al-Din heard it, his bowels yearned towards her and he
came forth from the closet and, throwing himself upon his wife
Zubaydah, strained her to his bosom. She also knew him and the
twain embraced and fell to the ground in a swoon. Then came
forward the Princess Husn Maryam and sprinkled rose water on
them, till they revived when she said to them, "Allah hath
reunited you." Replied Ala al-Din, "By thy kind of offices, O
lady." Then, turning to his wife, he said to her, "O Zubaydah,
thou didst surely die and we tombed thee in the tomb: how then
returnedst thou to life and camest thou to this place?" She
answered, "O my lord, I did not die; but an Aun[FN#122] of the
Jinn snatched me up and dew with me hither. She whom thou
buriedst was a Jinniyah, who shaped herself to my shape and
feigned herself dead; but when you entombed her she broke open
the tomb and came forth from it and returned to the service of
this her mistress, the Princess Husn Maryam. As for me I was
possessed[FN#123] and, when I opened my eyes, I found myself with
this Princess thou seest; so I said to her, 'Why hast thou
brought me hither?' Replied she, 'I am predestined to marry thy
husband, Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat: wilt thou then, O Zubaydah,
accept me to co-consort, a night for me and a night for thee?'
Rejoined I, 'To hear is to obey, O my lady, but where is my
husband?' Quoth she, 'Upon his forehead is written what Allah
hath decreed to him; as soon as the writing which is there writ
is fulfilled to him, there is no help for it but he come hither,
and we will beguile the time of our separation from him with
songs and playing upon instruments of music, till it please Allah
to unite us with him.' So I abode all these days with her till
Allah brought us together in this church." Then Husn Maryam
turned to him and said, "O my lord, Ala al-Din, wilt thou be to
me baron and I be to thee femme?" Quoth he, "O my lady, I am a
Moslem and thou art a Nazarene; so how can I intermarry with
thee?" Quoth she, "Allah forbid that I should be an infidel! Nay,
I am a Moslemah; for these eighteen years I have held fast the
Faith of Al-Islam and I am pure of any creed other than that of
the Islamite." Then said he, "O my lady, I desire a return to my
native land;" and she replied, "Know that I see written on thy
forehead things which thou must needs accomplish, and then thou
shalt win to thy will. Moreover, be fief and fain, O Ala al-Din,
that there hath been born to thee a son named Aslan; who now
being arrived at age of discretion, sitteth in thy place with the
Caliph. Know also that Truth hath prevailed and that Falsehood
naught availed; and that the Lord hath withdrawn the curtain of
secrecy from him who stole the Caliph's goods, that is, Ahmad
Kamakim the arch-thief and traitor; and he now lieth bound and in
jail. And know further 'twas I who sent thee the jewel and had it
put in the bag where thou foundest it, and 'twas I who sent the
captain that brought thee and the jewel; for thou must know that
the man is enamoured of me and seeketh my favours and would
possess me; but I refused to yield to his wishes or let him have
his will of me; and I said him, 'Thou shalt never have me till
thou bring me the jewel and its owner.' So I gave him an hundred
purses and despatched him to thee, in the habit of a merchant,
whereas he is a captain and a war-man; and when they led thee to
thy death after slaying the forty captives, I also sent thee this
old woman to save thee from slaughter." Said he, "Allah requite
thee for us with all good! Indeed thou hast done well." Then Husn
Maryam renewed at his hands her profession of Al-Islam; and, when
he was assured of the truth of her speech, he said to her, O my
lady, tell me what are the virtues of this jewel and whence
cometh it?" She answered, "This jewel came from an enchanted
hoard, and it hath five virtues which will profit us in time of
need. Now my lady grandmother, the mother of my father, was an
enchantress and skilled in solving secrets and finding hidden
treasures from one of which came the jewel into her hands. And as
I grew up and reached the age of fourteen, I read the Evangel and
other books and I found the name of Mohammed (whom Allah bless
and preserve!) in the four books, namely the Evangel, the
Pentateuch, the Psalms and the Koran;[FN#124] so I believed in
Mohammed and became a Moslemah, being certain and assured that
none is worship worth save Allah Almighty, and that to the Lord
of all mankind no faith is acceptable save that of Al-Islam. Now
when my lady-grandmother fell sick, she gave me this jewel and
taught me its five virtues. Moreover, before she died, my father
said to her, 'Take thy tablets of geomancy and throw a figure,
and tell us the issue of my affair and what will befal-me.' And
she foretold him that the far off one[FN#125] should die, slain
by the hand of a captive from Alexandria. So he swore to kill
every prisoner from that place and told the Kaptan of this,
saying, 'There is no help for it but thou fall on the ships of
the Moslems and seize them and whomsoever thou findest of
Alexandria, kill him or bring him to me.' The Captain did his
bidding until he had slain as many in number as the hairs of his
head. Then my grandmother died and I took a geomantic tablet,
being minded and determined to know the future, and I said to
myself, 'Let me see who will wed me!' Whereupon I threw a figure
and found that none should be my husband save one called Ala
al-Din Abu al-Shamat, the Trusty, the Faithful. At this I
marvelled and waited till the times were accomplished and I
foregathered with thee." So Ala al-Din took her to wife and said
to her, "I desire to return to my own country." Quoth she, "If it
be so, rise up and come with me." Then she took him and, hiding
him in a closet of her palace, went in to her father, who said to
her, "O my daughter, my heart is exceeding heavy this day; sit
down and let us make merry with wine, I and thou." So she sat
down with him and he called for a table of wine; and she plied
him till he lost his wits, when she drugged a cup with Bhang and
he drank it off and fell upon his back. Then she brought Ala
al-Din out of the closet and said to him, "Come; verily thine
enemy lieth prostrate, for I made him drunk and drugged him; so
do thou with him as thou wilt." Accordingly Ala al-Din went to
the King and, finding him lying drugged and helpless, pinioned
him fast and manacled and fettered him with chains. Then he gave
him the counter-drug and he came to himself,--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ala al-Din
gave the antidote of Bhang to King Yohanna, father of Husn
Maryam, and he came to himself and found Ala al-Din and his
daughter sitting on his breast. So he said to her, "O my
daughter, dost thou deal thus with me?" She answered "If I be
indeed thy daughter, become a Moslem, even as I became a
Moslemah, for the truth was shown to me and I attested it; and
the false, and I deserted it. I have submitted myself unto Allah,
The Lord of the Three Worlds, and am pure of all faiths contrary
to that of Al-Islam in this world and in the next world.
Wherefore, if thou wilt become a Moslem, well and good; if not,
thy death were better than thy life." Ala al-Din also exhorted
him to embrace the True Faith; but he refused and was
contumacious; so Ala al-Din drew a dagger and cut his throat from
ear to ear.[FN#126] Then he wrote a scroll, setting forth what
had happened and laid it on the brow of the dead, after which
they took what was light of load and weighty of worth and turned
from the palace and returned to the church. Here the Princess
drew forth the jewel and, placing her hand upon the facet where
was figured a couch, rubbed it; and behold, a couch appeared
before her and she mounted upon it with Ala al-Din and his wife
Zubaydah, the lutist, saying, "I conjure thee by the virtue of
the names and talismans and characts engraver on this jewel, rise
up with us, O Couch!" And it rose with them into the air and
flew, till it came to a Wady wholly bare of growth, when the
Princess turned earthwards the facet on which the couch was
figured, and it sank with them to the ground. Then she turned up
the face where on was fashioned a pavilion and tapping it said,
"Let a pavilion be pitched in this valley;" and there appeared a
pavilion, wherein they seated themselves. Now this Wady was a
desert waste, without grass or water; so she turned a third face
of the jewel towards the sky, and said, "By the virtue of the
names of Allah, let trees upgrow here and a river flow beside
them!" And forthwith trees sprang up and by their side ran a
river plashing and dashing. They made the ablution and prayed and
drank of the stream; after which the Princess turned up the three
other facets till she came to the fourth, whereon was portrayed a
table of good, and said, "By the virtue of the names of Allah,
let the table be spread!" And behold, there appeared before them
a table, spread with all manner of rich meats, and they ate and
drank and made merry and were full of joy. Such was their case;
but as regards Husn Maryam's father, his son went in to waken him
and found him slain; and, seeing Ala al-Din's scroll, took it and
read it, and readily understood it. Then he sought his sister and
finding her not, betook himself to the old woman in the church,
of whom he enquired for her, but she said, "Since yesterday I
have not seen her." So he returned to the troops and cried out,
saying, "To horse, ye horsemen!" Then he told them what had
happened, so they mounted and rode after the fugitives, till they
drew near the pavilion. Presently Husn Maryam arose and looked up
and saw a cloud of dust which spread till it walled the view,
then it lifted and flew, and lo! stood disclosed her brother and
his troops, crying aloud, "Whither will ye fly, and we on your
track!" Then said she to Ala al-Din, "Are thy feet firm in
fight?" He replied, "Even as the stake in bran, I know not war
nor battle, nor swords nor spears." So she pulled out the jewel
and rubbed the fifth face, that on which were graven a horse and
his rider, and behold, straightway a cavalier appeared out of the
desert and ceased not to do battle with the pursuing host and
smite them with the sword, till he routed them and put them to
flight. Then the Princess asked Ala al-Din, "Wilt thou go to
Cairo or to Alexandria?"; and he answered, "To Alexandria." So
they mounted the couch and she pronounced over it the
conjuration, whereupon it set off with them and, in the twinkling
of an eye, brought them to Alexandria. They alighted without the
city and Ala al-Din hid the women in a cavern, whilst he went
into Alexandria and fetched them outer clothing, wherewith he
covered them. Then he carried them to his shop and, leaving them
in the "ben"[FN#127] walked forth to fetch them the morning-meal,
and behold he met Calamity Ahmad who chanced to be coming from
Baghdad. He saw him in the street and received him with open
arms, saluting him and welcoming him. Whereupon Ahmad al-Danaf
gave him the good news of his son Aslan and how he was now come
to the age of twenty: and Ala al-Din, in his turn, told the
Captain of the Guard all that had befallen him from first to
last, whereat he marvelled with exceeding marvel. Then he brought
him to his shop and sitting room where they passed the night; and
next day he sold his place of business and laid its price with
other monies. Now Ahmad al-Danaf had told him that the Caliph
sought him; but he said, "I am bound first for Cairo, to salute
my father and mother and the people of my house." So they all
mounted the couch and it carried them to Cairo the God-guarded;
and here they alighted in the street called Yellow,[FN#128] where
stood the house of Shams al-Din. Then Ala al-Din knocked at the
door, and his mother said, "Who is at the door, now that we have
lost our beloved for evermore?" He replied, " 'Tis I! Ala
al-Din!" whereupon they came down and embraced him. Then he sent
his wives and baggage into the house and entering himself with
Ahmad al-Danaf, rested there three days, after which he was
minded to set out for Baghdad. His father said, "Abide with me, O
my son;" but he answered; "I cannot bear to be parted from my
child Aslan." So he took his father and mother and fared forth
for Baghdad. Now when they came thither, Ahmad al-Danaf went in
to the Caliph and gave him the glad tidings of Ala al-Din's
arrival--and told him his story whereupon the King went forth to
greet him taking the youth Aslan, and they met and embraced each
other. Then the Commander of the Faithful summoned the arch-thief
Ahmad Kamakim and said to Ala al-Din, "Up and at thy foe!" So he
drew his sword and smote off Ahmad Kamakim's head. Then the
Caliph held festival for Ala al-Din and, summoning the Kazis and
witnesses, wrote the contract and married him to the Princess
Husn Maryam; and he went in unto her and found her an unpierced
pearl. Moreover, the Caliph made Aslan Chief of the Sixty and
bestowed upon him and his father sumptuous dresses of honour; and
they abode in the enjoyment of all joys and joyance of life, till
there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of
societies. But the tales of generous men are manifold and amongst
them is the story of

HATIM OF THE TRIBE OF TAYY.

It is told of Hatim of the tribe of Tayy,[FN#129] that when he
died, they buried him on the top of a mountain and set over his
grave two troughs hewn out of two rocks and stone girls with
dishevelled hair. At the foot of the hill was a stream of running
water, and when wayfarers camped there, they heard loud crying
and keening in the night, from dark till daybreak; but when they
arose in the morning, they found nothing but the girls carved in
stone. Now when Zu 'l-Kura'a,[FN#130] King of Himyar, going forth
of his tribe, came to that valley, he halted to pass the night
there,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Seventieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Zu 'l-
Kura'a passed by the valley he righted there, and, when he drew
near the mountain, he heard the keening and said, "What lamenting
is that on yonder hill?" They answered him, saying, "Verily this
be the tomb of Hatim al-Tayy, over which are two troughs of stone
and stone figures of girls with dishevelled hair; and all who
camp in this place by night hear this crying and keening." So he
said jestingly, "O Hatim of Tayy! we are thy guests this night,
and we are lank with hunger." Then sleep overcame him, but
presently he awoke in affright and cried out, saying, "Help, O
Arabs! Look to my beast!" So they came to him, and finding his
she-camel struggling and struck down, they stabbed her in the
throat and roasted her flesh and ate. Then they asked him what
had happened and he said, "When I closed my eyes, I saw in my
sleep Hatim of Tayy who came to me sword in hand and cried, 'Thou
comest to us and we have nothing by us.' Then he smote my she-
camel with his sword, and she had surely died even though ye had
not come to her and slaughtered her."[FN#131] Now when morning
dawned the King mounted the beast of one of his companions and,
taking the owner up behind him, set out and fared on till midday,
when they saw a man coming towards them, mounted on a camel and
leading another, and said to him, "Who art thou?" He answered, "I
am Adi,[FN#132] son of Hatim of Tayy; where is Zu 'l-Kura'a, Emir
of Himyar?" Replied they, "This is he;" and he said to the
prince, "Take this she-camel in place of thy beast which my
father slaughtered for thee." Asked Zu 'l Kura'a, "Who told thee
of this?" and Adi answered, "My father appeared to me in a dream
last night and said to me, 'Harkye, Adi; Zu 'l Kura'a King of
Himyar, sought the guest-rite of me and I, having naught to give
him, slaughtered his she-camel, that he might eat: so do thou
carry him a she-camel to ride, for I have nothing.'" And Zu
'l-Kura'a took her, marvelling at the generosity of Hatim of Tayy
alive and dead. And amongst instances of generosity is the

TALE OF MA'AN THE SON OF ZAIDAH.[FN#133]

It is told of Ma'an bin Zaidah that, being out one day a-chasing
and a-hunting, he became athirst but his men had no water with
them; and while thus suffering behold, three damsels met him
bearing three skins of water;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-first Night,[FN#134]

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that three girls
met him bearing three skins of water; so he begged drink of them,
and they gave him to drink. Then he sought of his men somewhat to
give the damsels but they had no money; so he presented to each
girl ten golden piled arrows from his quiver. Whereupon quoth one
of them to her friend, "Well-a-day! These fashions pertain to
none but Ma'an bin Zaidah! so let each one of us say somewhat of
verse in his praise." Then quoth the first,

"He heads his arrows with piles of gold, * And while shooting his
foes is his bounty doled:
Affording the wounded a means of cure, * And a sheet for the
bider beneath the mould!"

And quoth the second,

"A warrior showing such open hand, * His boons all friends and
all foes enfold:
The piles of his arrows of or are made, * So that battle his
bounty may not withhold!"

And quoth the third,

"From that liberal-hand on his foes he rains * Shafts aureate-
headed and manifold:
Wherewith the hurt shall chirurgeon pay, * And for slain the
shrouds round their corpses roll'd."[FN#135]

And there is also told a tale of

MA'AN SON OF ZAIDAH AND THE BADAWI.

Now Ma'an bin Zaidah went forth one day to the chase with his
company, and they came upon a herd of gazelles; so they separated
in pursuit and Ma'an was left alone to chase one of them. When he
had made prize of it he alighted and slaughtered it; and as he
was thus engaged, he espied a person[FN#136] coming forth out of
the desert on an ass. So he remounted and riding up to the new-
comer, saluted him and asked him, "Whence comest thou?" Quoth
he, "I come from the land of Kuza'ah, where we have had a two
years' dearth; but this year it was a season of plenty and I
sowed early cucumbers.[FN#137] They came up before their time, so
I gathered what seemed the best of them and set out to carry them
to the Emir Ma'an bin Zaidah, because of his well-known
beneficence and notorious munificence." Asked Ma'an, "How much
dost thou hope to get of him?"; and the Badawi answered, "A
thousand dinars." Quoth the Emir, "What if he say this is too
much?" Said the Badawi, "Then I will ask five hundred dinars."
"And if he say, too much?" "Then three hundred!" "And if he say
yet, too much?" "Then two hundred!" "And if he say yet, too
much?" "Then one hundred!" "And if he say yet, too much?" "Then,
fifty!" "And if he say yet, too much?" "Then thirty!" "And if he
say still, too much?" asked Ma'an bin Zaidah. Answered the
Badawi, "I will make my ass set his four feet in his Honour's
home[FN#138] and return to my people, disappointed and empty-
handed." So Ma'an laughed at him and urged his steed till he came
up with his suite and returned to his place, when he said to his
chamberlain, "An there come to thee a man with cucumbers and
riding on an ass admit him to me." Presently up came the Badawi
and was admitted to Ma'an's presence; but knew not the Emir for
the man he had met in the desert, by reason of the gravity and
majesty of his semblance and the multitude of his eunuchs and
attendants, for he was seated on his chair of state with his
officers ranged in lines before him and on either side. So he
saluted him and Ma'an said to him "What bringeth thee, O brother
of the Arabs?" Answered the Badawi, "I hoped in the Emir, and
have brought him curly cucumbers out of season." Asked Ma'an,
"And how much dost thou expect of us?" "A thousand dinars,"
answered the Badawi. "This is far too much," quoth Ma'an. Quoth
he, "Five hundred." "Too much!" "Then three hundred." "Too much!"
"Two hundred." "Too much!" "One hundred." "Too much!" "Fifty."
"Too much!" At last the Badawi came down to thirty dinars; but
Ma'an still replied, "Too much!" So the Badawi cried, "By Allah,
the man who met me in the desert brought me bad luck! But I will
not go lower than thirty dinars." The Emir laughed and said
nothing; whereupon the wild Arab knew that it was he whom he had
met and said, "O my lord, except thou bring the thirty dinars,
see ye, there is the ass tied ready at the door and here sits
Ma'an, his honour, at home." So Ma'an laughed, till he fell on
his back; and, calling his steward, said to him, "Give him a
thousand dinars and five hundred and three hundred and two
hundred and one hundred and fifty and thirty; and leave the ass
tied up where he is." So the Arab to his amazement, received two
thousand one hundred and eighty dinars, and Allah have mercy on
them both and on all generous men! And I have also heard, O
auspicious King, a tale of

THE CITY OF LABTAYT.[FN#139]

There was once a royal-city in the land of Roum, called the City
of Labtayt wherein stood a tower which was always shut. And
whenever a King died and another King of the Greeks took the
Kingship after him, he set on the tower a new and strong lock,
till there were four-and-twenty locks upon the gate, according to
the number of the Kings. After this time, there came to the
throne a man who was not of the old royal-house, and he had a
mind to open these locks, that he might see what was within the
tower. The grandees of his kingdom forbade him this and pressed
him to desist and reproved him and blamed him; but he persisted
saying, "Needs must this place be opened." Then they offered him
all that their hands possessed of monies and treasures and things
of price, if he would but refrain; still he would not be
baulked,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

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

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
grandees offered that King all their hands possessed of monies
and treasures if he would but refrain; still he would not be
baulked and said "There is no help for it but I open this tower."
So he pulled off the locks and entering, found within the tower
figures of Arabs on their horses and camels, habited in
turbands[FN#140] hanging down at the ends, with swords in
baldrick-belts thrown over their shoulders and bearing long
lances in their hands. He found there also a scroll which he
greedily took and read, and these words were written therein,
"Whenas this door is opened will conquer this country a raid of
the Arabs, after the likeness of the figures here depicted;
wherefore beware, and again beware of opening it." Now this city
was in Andalusia; and that very year Tarik ibn Ziyad conquered
it, during the Caliphate of Al-Walid son of Abd al-Malik[FN#141]
of the sons of Umayyah; and slew this King after the sorriest
fashion and sacked the city and made prisoners of the women and
boys therein and got great loot. Moreover, he found there immense
treasures; amongst the rest more than an hundred and seventy
crowns of pearls and jacinths and other gems of price; and he
found a saloon, wherein horsemen might throw the spears, full of
vessels of gold and silver, such as no description can comprise.
Moreover, he found there the table of food for the Prophet of
Allah, Solomon, son of David (peace with both of them!), which is
extant even now in a city of the Greeks, it is told that it was
of grass-green emerald with vessels of gold and platters of
jasper. Likewise he found the Psalms written in the old
Ionian[FN#142] characters on leaves of gold bezel'd with jewels;
together with a book setting forth the properties of stones and
herbs and minerals, as well as the use of characts and talismans
and the canons of the art of alchymy; and he found a third volume
which treated of the art of cutting and setting rubies and other
precious stones and of the preparation of poisons and theriacks.
There found he also a mappa mundi figuring the earth and the seas
and the different cities and countries and villages of the world;
and he found a vast saloon full of hermetic powder, one drachm of
which elixir would turn a thousand drachms of silver into fine
gold; likewise a marvellous mirror, great and round, of mixed
metals, which had been made for Solomon, son of David (on the
twain be peace!) wherein whoso looked might see the counterfeit
presentment of the seven climates of the world; and he beheld a
chamber full of Brahmini[FN#143] jacinths for which no words can
suffice. So he despatched all these things to Walid bin Abd
al-Malik, and the Arabs spread all over the cities of Andalusia
which is one of the finest of lands. This is the end of the story
of the City of Labtayt. And a tale is also told of

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